Musings on the unknown

I often receive emails from strangers who have read my articles. Some have been critical of my pieces, even going so far as accusing me of genocide, but most of them have been supportive. In March I received an unusual email from someone named Mike who told me that he had read my January article, An open letter to 60 Minutes, in which I called out Cecelia Vega’s biased reporting on Gaza. He asked me if I had seen Vega’s March 9 report on Purdue Pharma and wondered if I had noticed that Vega’s choice of clothing and nail polish resembled a certain flag. I had in fact watched the story, but did not notice her ensemble; however, I decided to find the video online, and see if Mike’s theory made any sense.

Vega’s red, black, and white color-blocked sweater and her peculiar choice of green nail polish, coupled with her overt support for the Palestinians in her previous story, made me think that perhaps Mike was onto something. Still, I wasn’t convinced but when I watched Vega’s April 6 report on Venezuelan migrants, I saw that her sweater vest had a strange likeness to the Keffiyeh pattern.

I couldn’t help but wonder whether her attire was a defiant response to the criticism she received regarding her distorted and one-sided January report on Gaza. Was she making a tacit statement that doubled down on her pro-Palestinian views? We cannot know for sure.

Also in question recently was a widely circulated photo of Elon Musk extending his right arm. Many thought he was mimicking the Heil Hitler salute; however, if people watch the video, they will likely come to a different conclusion after seeing Musk first touch his heart and then extend his arm. Some have made a similar claim about the commercial with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. At the end, Trump is seen extending his right arm, but to me, it is clearly a wave.

Sometimes people attribute intent when the actions are in fact wholly unintentional. During a vacation to the Caribbean this past winter, my friend and I took a selfie in front of a large sign that said ‘BAHAMAS’. It wasn’t until after I returned home that I noticed that we had inadvertently blocked the first two letters. There we were, two smiling, pro-Israel Jews unwittingly taking a photo with the word ‘HAMAS’ in the background!

In March Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a nephrologist with a visa to work in Rhode Island, was deported to her native Lebanon after it was learned that she had attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The terrorist leader and arch enemy of Israel and the U.S. was responsible for many attacks, including the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed over 200 U.S. servicemen. Rallying to her defense, many insisted that she did not support his political views but supported only his religious views. In my opinion, if your religious leader also happens to be a terrorist who has deliberately killed innocent people, it is time to find a new religious leader. Others seemed to think she should be trusted because she was a doctor, but they should remember that Mengele was a doctor, too. As a Rhode Islander who has required the services of a nephrologist, I found it chilling that it was quite possible that I could have put my health in the hands of this woman, without knowing that she had attended a funeral with throngs of rabidly antisemitic and anti-American people.

The movie October 8 revealed a secret FBI recording from 1993. Several Hamas leaders discussed how they could dupe American universities and media into reframing Hamas’ heinous agenda, turning it into a social justice and human rights struggle. Today while Americans are protesting on their behalf and the media are providing biased, Pro-Palestinian reports, Hamas’ billionaire leaders are undoubtedly laughing at the people who have taken up their cause. These Hamas advocates will never know or acknowledge that they have been manipulated by a group of people that not only personifies evil but stands in stark contrast to their progressive views. As Mark Twain said, “It’s easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.”

Also in the ‘if they only knew’ category, in 1935 the Nazi propaganda department, led by Joseph Goebbels, initiated a contest to find the perfect Aryan baby. The photo of the contest winner, a six-month-old girl, appeared on postcards and greeting cards throughout Germany and on the cover of a German magazine called Sonne ins Haus, meaning “Sunshine in the Home”. What they didn’t know, however, was that the perfect and most beautiful “Aryan” baby they selected was in fact a Jewish baby.

As for Cecilia Vega, whether her wardrobe intentionally indicates her support for the Palestinians is indeterminable; however, if in a future 60 Minutes episode I see her wearing a shirt with a watermelon, a symbol connected with the Palestinians, I will have no doubt. Until then, I will leave it as a matter of conjecture and admit that I simply do not know.

As Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”